Dragged my old Ashbury out of its case for some practise. I like to begin my warm up with that old classic ‘Fireball Mail’ what do the rest of you guys and gals like to warm up with?
What do you warm up with?
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I like to warm up with Wabash Cannonball, I’ll Fly Away, or Black Mountain Rag when playing in C.
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Fireball Mail is my “go-to” warm up as well.
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That’s some mighty fine pickin! Nice tone on your banjer, too.
Lately, I can’t sit down with mine without busting out Lonesome Road Blues. Love that song.
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Nice job. Yep, Fireball Mail for me as well.
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Nice picking. I will admit that I don’t usually “warm up” before playing, I usually just play. And what I play first is usually whatever I learned most recently. Although if I’m playing for others, fireball mail and pike county breakdown are usually the first thing I play
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My warmup consists of what I’m currently learning, and “trouble spots”…done slowly.
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I watched your vid on that Mark, it was great especially on that twanger. 
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Bailey’s in coffee is my classic warm up. Snow flurries may occur overnight. That reminds me I was going to learn Sledd Ridin’.
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Interesting approach. Dig into the harder or “working passages” initially. Most players are looking to “warm up” with a well-known tune that is normalky played well.
What I like about your approach is that it seems to take some pressure off… because there isn’t any “expectation” to play it well.
Many may play that familiar tune they know and love… but for whatever reason, on any given day, perhaps they cannot play cleanly… then they may subconscious think they cannot “proceed” to the harder, new passage. Perhaps they get frustrated or… worse yet, they chalk up the whole practice as “bad” or regression due to that struggle to give up for that day… never advancing to the newer material at all!
In YOUR approach, you break that pattern and dice into your work. If there is struggle, the expectation is set that this is normal because the song is new anyway.
Plus, you learn the new as it gets under the fingers. I cannot tell you how there are days, my practice and warm-up rolls actually interfere in the newer passages… because the muscle memory kicks in from the reinforced warm-up played in my prep and seems to seep into that newer material. At that point, we are unlearning or undoing the very training we thought would help us prepare. FASCINATING.
Your method avoids all that and pushes the needle forward.
Leave it to @Fiddle_wood to share this innovative approach. Thanks Dave! You are an innovator!
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You’ve got a good grasp the idea Will.
In addition, it has a lot to do with speed…I prefer to start out playing slow and working on technique & cleanliness…this helps me carry it over when I start speeding things up later.
Also, after playing several years, scales, arpeggios & such are more speed practice than warmup for me now a days.
Dave
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very nice Jono
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